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I think Facebook has much much bigger goals than silly gmail killing. It's trying to become the internet for all those who don't know the difference between a b
by rkwz 16y ago
I think Facebook has much much bigger goals than silly gmail killing. It's trying to become the internet for all those who don't know the difference between a browser, web site and the internet. Offering email services is just a small step in that direction.
- mistermann 16y agoI agree. One market I'd like to see them enter is online payments and micropayments, they have enough reach that they could probably pull it off.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- steveklabnik 16y agoFacebook Credits don't count?
- mistermann 16y agoNot familiar with those....are they interchangeable for money? I'd like to be able to easily send $5 to a friend via facebook, or 25 cents to the author of a blog post I enjoyed. Others have tried the micropayments, but it needs a heavyweight to really pull it off. Maybe facebook can buy a startup that has it nicely figured out technically, but can't get traction.
- steveklabnik 16y agoYou buy them with real money, and can spend them within applications on Facebook. It's not usable for anything outside of Facebook, or directly sending stuff to your friends. But it's still the beginnings of an entry into the market.
- BBonifield 16y agoYou can already purchase Facebook credits for games and the like. It's just a matter of time before they transition that into something with a wider reach.
- samuel 16y agoSo it's more like a hotmail killer. Gmail users tend to be "power" ones.
- Gibbon 16y agoHotmail and Yahoo Mail are also more than twice as big as Gmail.
- krschultz 16y agoA lot of people compare Facebook to MySpace, but isn't AOL also a good comparison? Remember all the companies that were AOL keywords. Now they have Facebook pages. AOL has a messenger, now Facebook does. It just strikes me as AOL for the 21st century.
- gonzo 16y agoI actually got to pose the question (live and in-person), "Isn't Facebook the new AOL?" to Steve Case last week.
- chime 16y agoWhat was his reply?
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- chopsueyar 16y ago"Actually, it reminds me of Prodigy." - Steve Case http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prodigy_%28online_service%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prodigy_%28online_service%29
- gaius 16y agoAnd...? Don't leave us hanging!
- pitdesi 16y agoHow did he answer?
- BrandonM 16y ago> A lot of people compare Facebook to MySpace, but isn't AOL also a good comparison? "Facebook is the new AOL" is about as close as Hacker News gets to a meme.
- jbrennan 16y agoI wonder, then, if they'll ever enter into web search. It would make sense, given the seeming herd migration of engineers from Google (though I don't know how many were from Search).